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WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON BINDER PAPER.
Nazi-­‐Soviet Non Aggression Pact In 1939, Hitler was preparing for war. Though he was hoping to acquire Poland without force (as he had when he annexed Austria in 1938), Hitler was planning to avoid a two front war. On August 23, 1939, representatives from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union met and signed the Nazi-­‐Soviet Non-­‐Aggression Pact, which guaranteed that the two countries would not attack each other. In addition, under a "Secret Protocol", Germany was going to attack Western Poland. Additionally, the Soviet Union was going to invade and occupy Eastern Poland and the Baltic States. These new territories gave the Soviet Union the buffer (in land) that it wanted to feel safe from an invasion from
the West. The pact was supposed to last for ten years; it lasted for less than two. 1. What is the primary reason Hitler had for signing this pact? What other historical event was Hitler
thinking about as he formed this agreement?
(A) Letter from Stalin to Hitler, August 25, 1939 To the chancellor of the German Reich, Herr A. Hitler:
I thank you for your letter. I hope that the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact will mark a decisive turn for the
better in the political relations between our two countries.
--J. Stalin
2. What had relations been like between Germany and the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s?
Next, Hitler informs Mussolini on his new alliance with the USSR. (B) Letter from Hitler to Mussolini, August 25, 1939 DUCE:
For some time Germany and Russia have been engaged in an exchange of views about a new attitude in
regard to their political relations.
The relationship of Germany to Poland has become considerably more unsatisfactory since spring and in
the last few weeks the position has become simply intolerable. The reports about the persecution of the
Germans in the border areas are not invented press reports but represent only a fraction of the terrible truth.
Furthermore, disputes over the customs policy in the city of Danzig have punished German businesses.
The readiness on the part of the Soviets to work with Germany has become ever stronger in the last few
weeks and has made it possible for me to send my Foreign Minister to Moscow to sign an agreement which
is the most extensive non-aggression pact in existence.
I believe I may say to you, Duce, that a completely new situation in world politics has been produced which
must be regarded as the greatest possible gain for the Axis nations. No one can say what the next hour
may bring. I can only assure you there is a limit beyond which I will not be pushed under any circumstances.
--ADOLF HITLER
3. What problems does Hitler identify that are occurring in Poland?
4. In the last sentence, what do you think Hitler might be planning to do?
5. How is the tone of (A) and (B) similar or different?
The next two documents are between two German officials. (D) Telegram from the German Foreign Minister (in Berlin) to the German Ambassador in the Soviet Union, September 3, 1939-­‐
6:50 p. m. Very Urgent! Exclusively for Ambassador. Strictly secret! Top secret.
To be decoded by himself. Strictest secrecy!
We definitely expect to have beaten the Polish Army
decisively in a few weeks. We would then keep the area under
military occupation.
Please discuss this at once with Molotov and see if the Soviet
Union does not consider it desirable for Russian forces to move
against Polish forces in Eastern Poland and to occupy this
territory. In our estimation this would be not only a relief for us, but
also, in the sense of the Non-Aggression Pact, in the Soviet
interest as well.
6. What does Germany want the USSR to do?
(E) Telegram from the German Ambassador in the Soviet Union to the German Foreign Office (Berlin), September 6, 1939-­‐5:46 p. m. Since anxiety over the fear of a German attack has strongly influenced the attitude of the Soviet population here
in the last few years, the conclusion of a non-aggression pact with Germany has been generally received with
great relief and gratification.
However, the sudden change in the policy of the Soviet Government, after years of propaganda directed against
German aggressors, is still not very well understood by the population. The statements that Germany is no
longer an aggressor nation runs up against considerable doubt. The Soviet Government is doing everything to
change the attitude of the population here toward Germany.
The press is as though it had been transformed. Attacks on the conduct of Germany have not only ceased
completely, but the portrayal of events in the field of foreign politics is based to an outstanding degree on
German reports. Furthermore, anti-German literature has been removed from the book trade, etc.
The beginning of the war between Germany and Poland has powerfully affected public opinion here, and
aroused new fear that the Soviet Union may be drawn into the war. Mistrust sown for years against Germany
cannot be so quickly removed. The fear is expressed by the population that Germany, after she has defeated
Poland, may turn against the Soviet Union. The recollection of German strength in the Great War is still
everywhere.
7. What do people in the USSR think about the Pact?
8. What is the message in the last paragraph?
For decades, it was the official policy of the Soviet Union to deny the existence of the "Secret Protocol" to the Non-­‐
Aggression Pact. On August 23, 1989, two million people created a human chain to recognize the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Pact. In December 1989, a commission concluded that the protocol had existed and soon condemned and denounced them. Name: Deep Thinking Activity: Summarize the Nazi-­‐Soviet Non Aggression Pact using the political cartoon below. Per. _______________________________________________________________________________________
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